About Hulahoops, Hooping, Hoopdancing...

Who knew that hulahoops can be used in so many ways: some entertain, play , others get fit, meditate or tell stories…

 

 

Hoopdance

when someone dances with a hulahoop to music - linking one move or trick to the other flawlessly & gracefully. This is done with 1 or 2 hoops, sometimes more - these hoops are quite lightweight but still large. Some do it for fitness, others to meditate…


Hulahoop Act

 

the circus act when one trick follows the other, there can be music but not much dance-related movement. The tricks are ever so spectacular & often you see contortion & acrobatic gymnastic skills & an awful lot of hulahoops.

Hulahooping

something like what most of us think of when hearing the word "hulahoop": spin it around the waist, maybe hips or knees & that's pretty much it.

 

My hulahooping is a hybrid of hoopdancing & circus-style hoop acts.

Hulaerobics
the kind of thing you are likely to find in a studio class in gyms & health clubs. It is an exercise class with an aerobics instructor doing squats, lunges, box-steps etc. with a hulahoop spinning around the waist. This is done with 1 hoop (often heavily weighted). No fancy tricks here.

 

Native American Hoopdance is a form of storytelling dance incorporating anywhere from one to thirty hoops as props, which are used to create both static and dynamic shapes, or formations, representing various animals, shapes, and storytelling elements. It is generally performed by a solo dancer with many hoops.

( source: Wikipedia)

 

About Contemporary hooping

 

Hoopdance Community

 

The Hooping Phenomenon

 

 

Hooping Life Trailer

 

 

Benefits

 What it is doing to the body...

- it beats up the body part on which the hoop spins which results in muscle contraction to protect whatever is underneath. Hulahoopers have a pretty toned body usually because their muscles are used to the hoop travelling around, massaging them & the contractions result in improved tone, strength & endurance. So when we hulahoop we work a bit harder than many would think: 1. we have to move to keep the hoop going, 2. our muscles contract at the points where the hoop applies pressure on the body. 

- let's not leave that pressure alone: manual therapy applies pressure on the body as well for benefits such as bringing fresh nutrient-rich blood into tissues & accelerating the excretion of waste products. The hoop does what a massage therapist's hands do to us - it rubs us all over. It is obviously a completely different sensation because we rarely hulahoop on a massage couch with relaxing music, candles & oils. Think of this as an invigorating & firm & sweaty massage.


- equilibrium: most of us tend to be stronger or smarter on one side because e.g. we like to write, text, kick on one side. This one-sidedness (is there a word like this?:)) can be amplified further with trauma: so if you have an injured leg or arm, you tend to overload the other side. When hooping this is a weakness & those who are very much one-sided will laugh a lot when the hoop goes bonkers. With time the hoop teaches all of us to be happy with both sides. It does not only improve our connections with our other side but other body parts, too - so if you cannot do fine movements with your feet,  shoulders, PELVIS... with the hoop you will learn how to.